foxwelljsly

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $165.00 from E Bay

Summary:
Got these as a serious e bay bargain (above in GBP) and have been rediscovering my music collection since wiring them up. Lovely warm, if rather coloured sound. There is a bit of a mid treble peak and a recessed mid range and these failings are most pronounced at lower volume levels. The cabinetry is exquisite, even if the gold bolts ae a little 'bling'. They do, however, go louder than any other standmount I have heard, even more so than various PMC standounters I've heard`demonstrated. At £150-£300 S/H i'd say they represent a lot of bang for buck - but I imagine they need the right amp, Exposure, Naim that sort of thing. The seller had them matched with a Linn integrated`amp and they sounded a bit thin with that, whereas they match my Exposure amp very well.

Strengths:
Warm, unfatiguing sound. Go incredibly loud. Lovely cabinets.

Weaknesses:
Unusual tonal balance.

Similar Products Used:
Ruark Sabre, Triangle titus

Price Paid:  $300.00 from second hand

Summary:
These are the best speakers ive ever had and ive had many. very very easy to live with and they do everything very well the detail thing or the power thing to. and they look Very nice to top it all. Ive had many different designs but these seem to do it all well i like acoustice stuff and also heavy rock and heavy dance. they do need plenty of good clean power to move them well mind. if your after a speaker for sertain music like detail and acoustic the epos es12/11 are very good also which i had or you can have that and raw hi fi with something like the Acoustic energy AE1, but in my opinion these are better than the two in the real world as they do it all and more and are easier on the ear. They can also rock the place like a pair of floor standers with their power, with good amplification ive had the bass hitting the chest feel, and the high volume levels will not have you running for the volume knob to turn it down because of fatiuge. if you want a specialist speakers there may be better about but if you want it all then these are the ones. ive fitted and forgot speakers now i woundnt want to look for another pair as i know how much of a mind field speakers are. quality at very good money you wont go far wrong with these. They dont have the loud stand out midrange like other speakers so they play anything but the midrange thats there is one of the best ive ever heard. great for modern pop.

Strengths:
Power of floor stander, detail and fineese of a quality stand mount. smooth midrange. Smooth detailed treble. Impress you mate sound and power and looks.

Weaknesses:
I cant fault them but some would say that the midrange is a bit recesed this is a good thing you canlisten to them for hourswith no fatigue. need plenty of good power behind them to hear them at their best.

Similar Products Used:
epso es11, AE1 ,Mission 753 and Mission 732 also AE109 floor standers(but these two not in the same league really.)

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Price Paid:  $995.00

Summary:
Beautifully crafted, a delight to look at. Sound is warm and tuneful. Excel in imaging and able to conjure up a very realistic soundstage. Excellent with vocals and slow rock. Very good boogie factor

Strengths:
Wide soundstage and strong in the rhythm department. Easy to drive and sound absolutely delightful across a wide range of musics

Weaknesses:
Treble peaks when volume is pumped up. Needd careful system matching

Similar Products Used:
Royd Albion, Rega Jura, Epos ES12, B&W CDM1, SOnus Faber Concertino, Dyn Contour 1.1, Vienna Acoustics Haydn, Kef reference

Price Paid:  $750.00 from B&B Hi Fi

Summary:
I have built my hi-fi on a constant round of upgrades, so I usually have components that are "out of class" to the rest. Current system is CD Marantz CD 63SI, amp Marantz PM-17, and the Sceptres.

When I auditioned the speakers I listened to Wharfdale, B&W, Mission - you name it I tried it. I listened back and forth, picking out the nuances of each family of speakers and then the differences of model, then switched-on the Ruarks. They were upper-mid price range for what I was listening to and they were CLEAR winners to my taste.
Folks may argue that they are not audiophile pure; they do colour the sound somewhat, but they are detailed, warm and are very easy to listen to without the upper-mid spike that can make rock and pop music tiring. Note that I also love the PM-17 which is also considered to be "not audiophile" by some.


My taste in music is rock, blues, metal, pop, some classical. I usually audition gear with female vocal, acoustic instrument pieces (Tony Childs is great for this) which highlights the warm and smooth lower and low - mid range . Top end is nicely transparent, but note that for soaring symphonic pieces these did not match a set of Quads (sorry, don't recall the model)thatI tried at the same time (and that were poor for everything else). Probably not enough monster bass for dance music or other synthetic sounds either. I'm a bit of a rock tonehound (guitar player, valve amps and all that stuff)and they do make the likes of Queen, G'n'R, Free, ZZTop come to life in a very natural way.

Note by the way that contrary to previous review here, the Sceptres are NOT bookshelf speakers - they need to be stand mounted with air around them to get balance, and yes, bi-wiring does make a difference.

Strengths:
Looks,sound

Weaknesses:
These are non pure sounding speakers - they do colour the sound.

Similar Products Used:
Mission, B&W, Wharfdale

Summary:
I have a very shaky wooden floor so wanted wall mounted speakers. Mounted on Target wall standands and bi-wired with Audioquest Indigo+ for the base and Kimber 4TC for the treble,I connected them to my Arcam Alpha 10 amp and Arcam Alpha 8 CD.I also put four blobs of Blue Tak under each corner of both speakers. Listening proved very rewarding with the speakers sounding much bigger than I expected while still having a woderfully detailed sound. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a speaker in the sub £1000 category.

Strengths:
Appearance,build,size

Weaknesses:
Port can chuff a little

Similar Products Used:
Dean Altos